Photographic meter-reader.



E. C.V POND.

PHOTOGRAPHIG METER READER.

AFPLIOATION FILED APR. 30, 1910. 975,278, Patented Nov. 8, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E.. G. POND.

PHOTOGRAPHIG METER READER. APPLICATION PILED APB.30, 1910.

H a SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E. G. POND. PHoToGBAPHm METER READER. APPLIU'ATION FILED APLBO, 1910. l, 975,278, Patented Nov. 8, 1910.

D www0 Snom-1 Foc wt 73 Ecpomz @Hoz/11u54 .6% vnf@ i* To all whom it' may comme:

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

EDWARD C. POND, 0F PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 CHARLES M. PATTERSON, 0F WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK.

PHOTOGRAPHIC METER-READER.

Be itknown that I, EDWARD C. POND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Petersburg, in the county of Dinwiddie and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Photographic Meter-Readers; and I do hereby de clare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in photographic meter readers, it being` an im-` provement upon my former application, filed May 27, 1909,.Serial No. 498,725.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple device by means of which the in dices of gas, water and electric meters may be readily photographed, making an accurate and infallible copy of said indices, thus preventing errors arising from improper or erroneous readings of the same. This invention, however, is not restricted to this use, as it could be used for various other purposes, such, for instance, as in connection with watchmens time clocks, in which case it could be used to photograph the watch man as he makes the record.

`VVith these objects in view, my invention consists in the construction and combinations of parts as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying dra\vingsl. `igure l is a longitudinal vertical section of my invention taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross-section thereof on the line 22 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction-of the arrows. Fig. 3 is a hori zontal cross-section thereof, on a larger scale, on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. A4l; an inverted plan view of the gear mechanism for closing the. circuit and advancing the roll of photographic paper. Fig. 5 is a section thereof on the line 5-5 of F 4;, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. G is a correspondingl section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 4, looking` in the direction of'the arrows. F ig. 7 is a horizontal cross-sectlon, on'an enlargedscale, taken on the line 7--7 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, parts being 'broken away. Fig. 8 is a cross-section taken on the line-8-S of Fig. 7, and Fig. 9 is a detail view of one of the roll holders.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 30, 1910.

Patented Nov. 8, 1910.

Serial No. 558,699.

1 represents a box or casing, provided with a hinged top 2 and With a partition 3,

dividing the box or casing into two chambers, the lower chamber L being practically a camera obscura. The partition 3 is provided vvith an opening 10, located near the center thereof, and an inclined mirror 5 projects upwardly over this opening, said mirror being inclined at an angle of about 45o. Above the mirror is an electric lamp 6, which 'is in circuit with a battery 7. In practice the user carries the. battery in' his pocket, the insulated wires' passing over his shoulder and into the box or casing 1. If desired, however, a dry battery may be used in the box itself, and anyA electrical device for causing the lamp 6 to be operated may be used, such as any generator operated to produce an electric current.

Opposite the lamp G and above the partition 3, a hole 8 is provided in the side of the box, and the box is adapted to be placed in front of a meter with the hole opposite the index thereof, whereupon a reading of the meter may be obtained by means hereinaftcr described. Preferably I employ in front of the hole 8 a collapsible hood 9, ar

ranged to fold up against the side of the box 1 on the outside of the hole 8.

In the space 4 in the box 1, below the movof the box 11, is a casing 15, open at both ends and having flared sides, as shown in Figs. 1 and 7. At the lower end, this casing is secured to the bottom 16 of the box 11 in any suitable manner. The bottom part of the box 11 is preferably hinged, as shown at 17 Fig. 7, so that when the box 1s removed from the main easing 1, ready access may be obtained to the interior of the box 11 for the purpose of removing or changing the roll of photographic paper hereinafter referred to. The casing 15 is preferably made as shown in Fig. 7. The bottom 1G of the box 11 is preferably provided with a covering of black felt 18, for the purpose of excluding side-of the box 11 and bearing directly on cured to the side of the box 11 and projectdescribed, operate the strip of paper 2l to light, and in fact all joints of the apparatus may be similarly provided with light excluding means.

ln the bottom 16 of the box are apertures, in which are mounted guide rolls 19 and 20 for the roll of photographic paper 21. This photographic paper is mounted on a spool 22 carried in removablev bearings, and the paper is fed from said spool 22 to a take-up spool 23, also carried in removable bearings, said spools being located on opposite sides of the casing 'and the strip of photographic paper passing over the rolls 19 and 20 and over the perforated felt strip 18 by a step by step movement hereinafter described. 24 represents a spring, fastened inthe roll of photographic paper ou lthe spool 22.

rlhe idea of having the bottom 16 of the casing hinged is that after the readings have been taken from a number of meters, the box 11 may be removed from the main casing, the bottom 16 opened, and thespools 22 and 23, carrying the photographic paper, removed and similar spools substituted.

The strip of photographic paper 21 passes between a pair of rubber covered rolls 25, Which, by gearing hereinafter specifically feed forward a definite length of such paper at every movement of 4the operating mechanism, thus obviating any irregularities of the feed due to the varying amounts` of paper on the spools 22and 23. By the use of the rolls 25, a definite length of paper is fed at each movement.

The lens 13 is under ordinary conditions covered by a circular vibratory plate 26, preferably made of metal, having a hole 27 therein, which is adapted, at certain portions of its movement, to be brought over the lens 13, registering therewith. The disk 26 is revolubly mounted on a pin 28, fastened in the side of the box 11 and is provided vvith an 11p-turned flange 29, through which passes a spring 30. This disk is not exactly circular, being cut away as shown at 31, and being provided with tWo up-turned stops 32 and 33. .34 represents a stop seing over the edge of the disk 26, and 35 represents a clip, fastened to the side of the box 11' and having an upwardly projecting portion 36. rlhe up-turned part 32 is adapted to strike the stop 34 and the part 36, which limit ythe movement in either direction.

The movement of the disk 264 is effected by means of the hand lever 37 Which projects through a slot 38 in the side of the bor; or casing 1. This lever is mounted on a. pivot 39 and has connected to it one of the circuit Wires 40 from the battery or other ses,

electric device 7. 0n the under side of the pivot pin 39 is arranged a curved extension 41, against Which the stop 33 engages tem# porarily as the lever37 is moved from the position shown in full lines inFig. 2 to the dotted line position therein. This is for the purpose of retarding the motion Yof the disk 26 until the spring 30 has become considerably defied, and after the end of the part 41 becomes disengaged from the ystop 33 this spring brings the disk 26 sharply around until the projection 32 strikes the stop 34, thus insuring an exact registry of the hole 27 and the lens 13.

The electric circuit runs from the battery 7 through the lamp 6, and then to a metal angle piece 42, fastened in the inside of the casing 1 just under the partition 3, with one edge extending out into the slot 38, as is shown in Fig. 2. The Wire 40, which is connected to the lever 37, is attached to a bent metal strip 43, carried on the outside of the box 1l, which strip is connected by the wire 44 back to the battery 7 L lt will thus be seen that as long as the lever 37 is held in thcposition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, in Contactv With the strip 42, that the circuit through the lamp 6 Will be completed and that the'opening 27 Will be in registry with the lens 13. The lever 37 is only operated when it is desired to take a photographic reading. The movement of the lever 37 also operates to feed the photographic paper from the spool 22 to the spool 23c by the gearing,v Which will now be described. To the lever 37 is attached one end of a flexible cord 45, which runs through a protecting tube 46 and is attached to a head 47, pivoted to an arm 48 carried by the shaft 49. Qn the shaft 49 is loosely mounted a gear Wheel 5G, which moves .freely in one direction and is driven in the other direction by the ordinary pawl and ratchet mechanism 51. i coiled spring 52 normally returns the parts to their original position. This gearing is supported by a frame, consisting of two parallel plates 53 and 54, supported on bolts such as 55, passing through the frame and into the box l1, these plates being spaced apart by washers such as 56. The pin or `screvv 57, which flexibly connects the head 47 to the arm 48, projects far enough through so as to strike the plate under the influence of the spring 52.

The gear wheel engages a gear Wheel 58 on the shaft 59, and on this shaft is also mounted a gear Wheel 60, Which engages a gear Wheel 61 on one of the `feed Vrolls 25, these feed rolls being geared together, as shown in Fig. 1. @ny the shaft 49 is also loosely mounted a gear Wheel 62, which is free to revolve in one direction and driven in the other direction by the paivl and ratchet 63. This gear Wheel meshes with a gear Wheel 64, which in turn meshes with a gear Wheel 65, which latter in turn meshes with a gear wheel 66 on the shaft of the takeup spool 23. A spring pawl 67 prevents rear- 'v of the lever 37 will move the feed rolls 25 a definite distance, feeding forward a definite.

will not be wound upon the spool 23 until lthe lever 37 is released. This insures the feeding of a definite length of photographic pa er on each movement of the lever 37.

o prevent the spools 22 and 23 from revolving too freely, I have devised a friction device, as shown in Fig. 9, consisting of a .bent bracket 69, furnished withv bearingsy through which the shafts of the spools pass, and a spring'70 bea-ring against said shaft, said bracket being adapted to be secured to the box 11 in any suitable manner.

The operation is as follows The operator places the hood 9 in close proximity to aI meter and moves the lever 37 unt-il it strikes the strip 42. This mot-ionfeeds a fresh portion bf the strip oof photogra hic paper 21, so as to brine' it immediately elow the lens 13. When the lever 37 strikes the strip 42,

the lamp 6 is immediately lighted, and the lever 37 being held there a few seconds, the ilnage or objectin front of 8 is reproduced upon'the sensitized paper 21. rIhe operator then releases the lever 37, whereupon the spring 52 brings the parts back to their original position, and onvthis motion the take-up spool 23 is operated and the operation -is completed.

' While I have thus described my invention, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not limit myself to the exact construction shown and described, as this could be varied considerably without departing from the spirit of my invention.

While sensitized paper is described inthe .operation of this camera, it is to be distinctly understood, that a film or any chemically prepared photegraphic paper can be used withV said'camera to obtain a reproduction of the image or object photographed.

I claim y l. In a photographiek meter reader, the combination of a camera casing provided with a lens and shutter, spools to which the ends of a roll 'of sensitized paper are .attached, said paper being adapted to travel from one of said s ools to the other, an electric light mounte in said casing, a lever, connections whereby a single movement of said lever will close the circuit through said electric light and will operate said shutter,

' and means intermediate said spools for feedsaid spools after the `feeding movement, substantially 'as described.

2. In aiphotographic meter reader, the combination of a 'camera casing provided with a lens and a shutter, spools to which a roll of sensitized paper is attached, said paper being adapted to travel from one of saidspools to the other, an electric light mountedin said casing, alever, connections whereby a single movement of said lever will close the circuitl through said light and will o era-te said shutter, a strap attached to sai lever, a `spring operative y opposed to the movement of said lever, and gearing whereby the vmovement of said/ strap in one direction -automaticall feeds p a vcertain amount of the sensitize paper, Said gearing operating subsequently, under the action of said spring, to take up on the receiving spool the paper fed, substantiallyas described.

' 3. .In a photographic 'meter reader, the combination of a casing lprovided withan electric lamp,'a mirror, a flens, and a shutter, a pair of rolls carrying sensitized aper, a lever, connections for operating sai shutter and .closing the circuit through, said electrlc lamp, a flexible-strap connected to said lever, a spring normally'pressing said strap and said lever in Vone direction, paper feedmg devices located between said spools and gearing, operatively connected to said paper.-

feeding devices and said receiving spool,

with a flexible hood, a lens, a shutter, a mirror, andf an elect-ric lamp, rolls carrying sensitized paper, feeding devices for sald paper ada ted to operate on the, paper between sai rolls, a lever,a` flexible strapconnected to said lever, connections between `'said lever and said shutter, a spring normally presslng said stra and said lever \in one dlrectlon,

and gearmg wherebythe movement of said.

lever in one direction will operatesaid feeding devices to feed a definite amount of the -paper off from the feeding roll, including said feeding de-v ratchet -gearing operatin vice on the "movement o the lever to close the electriclcircuit through the lamp, and other gearing whereby the spring, when the lever is released, will Aoperate the take-up roll to wind upon it the part of the paper fed from the delivery roll, substantially asl described. -1

Imtestimony whereof, I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD C. POND.l t' Witnesses:

HILL BEASLEY, l WILLARD E. TALo'rT. 

